Antonio Inoki
Antonio Inoki, (born Kanji Inoki -''' '''猪木寛至) was born on February the 20th, 1943. Inoki was a Japanese professional wrestler, wrestling promoter, mixed martial arts promoter and politician. He founded New Japan Pro-Wrestling in 1972 after being fired from the JWA (Japanese Wrestling Association) in 1971. Other than professional wrestling, Inoki is most noticeably known for his fight against boxing legend, Muhammad Ali, which subsequently lead to the modern day mixed martial arts. Inoki was inducted into the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Hall of Fame class in 2010. Early Life Inoki was born in an affluent family in Yokohama, 1943. He was the sixth son and the second youngest of the seven boys and four girls. His father, Sajiro Inoki, was a businessman and politician who died when Kanji was only five years old. He entered the Higashidai Grade School, where he was taught karate by an older brother whilst in the 6th grade. By the time Inoki was in the 7th grade at Terao Junior High School, he was 180cm tall and joined the schools basketball team, where he later quit and joined the track and field club as the shot putter. Inoki would win the championship at the Yokohama Junior High School track and field competition. After the World War, Inoki's family fell on hard times, and in 1957, the then 14-year-old Inoki emigrated to Brazil with his grandfather, mother and brothers. Unfortunately, his grandfather would die during their journey to Brazil. The time spent in Brazil for Inoki was not so bad however, as he won the regional championships in shot put, discus throw and javelin throw. He would then win the All Brazilian championships in shot put and discus. Professional Wrestling Career (1960-1998 Antonio Inoki began his wrestling career for the JWA (Japanese Wrestling Association), being trained by the legendary Rikidōzan. New Japan Pro-Wrestling (1970-2005) Inoki Genome Federation (2007-2017 Personal Life Inoki was married to actress Mitsuko Baisho from 1971 to 1987, and together they had a daughter, Hiroko. Inoki operates a wrestling themed restaurant in Shinjuku, Tokyo named Antonio's Inoki Sakaba Shinjuku Religion Inoki converted to Shia Islam in 1990 during a pilgrimage to Karbala, the Shiite holy city in Iraq. He was in Iraq negotiating for the release of several Japanese hostages. This was only revealed in 2012, along with the declaration that he had changed his name to Muhammad Hussain Inoki. Inoki has reportedly described himself as both a Muslim convert and a Buddhist. Mixed martial arts involvement Inoki was amongst the group of professional wrestlers who were tutored in the art of hooking and shooting by the professional wrestler Karl Gotch. Inoki named his method of fighting "strong style." This method of wrestling (which was taught to Inoki by Gotch) borrowed heavily from professional wrestling's original catch wrestling roots, and is one of the most important influences of modern shoot wrestling. Inoki faced many opponents from all dominant disciplines of combat from various parts of the world, such as boxers, judoka, karateka, kung fu practitioners, sumo wrestlers and professional wrestlers. These bouts included a match with then-prominent karate competitor Everett Eddy. Eddy had previously competed in a mixed skills bout against boxer Horst Geisler, losing by knockout.The bout with Eddy ended with the karateka "knocked out" by a professional wrestling powerbomb followed by a Hulk Hogan-esque leg drop. Another such match pitted Inoki against 6'7" Kyokushin karate stylist Willie "The Bear Killer" Williams. (So-called because he had allegedly fought a bear for a 1976 Japanese film entitled "The Strongest Karate 2").This bout ended in a doctor stoppage after both competitors repeatedly fell out of the ring. Although many of the matches were rigged and scripted, they are seen as a precursor to modern mixed martial arts. When asked about Inoki's fighting skills, business colleague Carlson Gracie stated Inoki was "one of the best fighters he'd seen." His most famous bout was against heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali on June 26, 1976, in Tokyo. Inoki initially promised Ali a rigged match to get him to fight in Japan, but when the deal materialized, Ali's camp feared that Inoki would turn the fight into a shoot, which many believe was Inoki's intention. Ali visited a professional wrestling match involving Inoki and witnessed Inoki's grappling ability. The rules of the match were announced several months in advance. Two days before the match, however, several new rules were added which severely limited the moves that each man could perform. A rule change that had a major effect on the outcome of this match was that Inoki could only throw a kick if one of his knees was on the ground. In the match, Ali landed a total of six punches to Inoki, and Inoki kept to his back in a defensive position almost the full duration of the match of 15 rounds, hitting Ali with a low kick repeatedly.The bout ended in a draw, 3–3. Ali left without a press conference and suffered damage to his legs as a result of Inoki's repeated kicks. Retirement Following his retirement, Inoki has promoted a number of MMA events such as NJPW: Ultimate Crush (which showcased pro wrestling matches and MMA matches on the same card), as well as annual Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye shows which took place on New Year's Eve in 2001, 2002 and 2003. Some of the major attractions of these events involve the best of NJPW against world-renowned fighters in mixed martial arts matches. Inoki vs. Renzo Gracie was a professional wrestling match that took place at Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2000 against mixed martial artist Renzo Gracie. Inoki was also the ambassador for the International Fight League's Tokyo entry before that promotion's demise. In Media Inoki appears both in the manga and anime Tiger Mask, in a secondary role: in the Japanese series he is the only one who was able to win over Naoto Date, i.e. Tiger Mask, and the two became best friends subsequently. Inoki appeared in the film The Bad News Bears Go to Japan as himself. A subplot in his scenes involved Inoki seeking a rematch with Ali. Gene LeBell, who also appears in these scenes as a manager of Inoki's scheduled opponent, Mean Bones Beaudine, was the referee of Inoki's match with Ali. Inoki's appearance in the film culminates with a match against the main character, Marvin Lazar (played by Tony Curtis), when Beaudine suddenly becomes unavailable to participate. Professional wrestler Héctor Guerreroserved as Curtis's stunt double for the wrestling portions of this scene. Inoki had the starring role in the film Acacia directed by Jinsei Tsuji. In Oh!Great's manga Air Gear, Inoki is regularly referred to by the author, and also the characters as an influence on their fighting style. The manga also makes several less than complimentary references to Inoki's large chin. Along with Inoki, Steve Austin of the World Wrestling Federation has been referred to in Air Gear's pages, often in naming things. (This is based on the translation by Tanoshimi Manga, and later by Balantine Books/Del Rey Books. Other translations may omit these references). The pro-wrestler character Kanji Igari in the manga (and anime) series Baki the Grappler is based heavily on Inoki. Several episodes of the Japanese comedy show Downtown no Gaki no Tsukai ya Arahende!! (most notably 2007's "Do Not Laugh at the Hospital" and 2009's "Do Not Laugh as a Hotel Man") have included parodies of Inoki. In the former, three "patients" are presented as being Inoki, with each imitating Inoki's in-ring persona; while in the latter, the guest known only as Shin Onii was asked to imitate Inoki as if he were a hotel bellhop. Wrestlers Trained In Wrestling * Finishing and Signature Moves ** Sleeper hold ** Enzuigiri ** Octopus hold ** Bridging Fallaway slam ** Cross armbreaker ** Diving knee drop ** Indian deathlock ** Knuckle punches ** Seated armbar ** Slap ** Antonio Driver (Half Belly to Belly) Championships and Accomplishments * Cauliflower Alley Club ** Lou Thesz Award (2004) * Japanese Wrestling Association ** NWA International Tag Team Championship (4 times) – with Shohei Baba ** All Asia Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Michiaki Yoshimura (2) and Kintaro Ohki (1) ** 11th World Big League ** 1st and 2nd World Tag League (with Kantaro Hoshino and Seiji Sakaguchi) * National Wrestling Federation ** NWF Heavyweight Championship (4 times) * New Japan Pro-Wrestling ** IWGP Heavyweight Championship (1 time) ** NWA North American Tag Team Championship (Los Angeles/Japan version) (1 time) – with Seiji Sakaguchi ** WWF World Martial Arts Heavyweight Championship (2 times) ** NJPW Real World Championship (1 time) ** NJPW IWGP League (1984, 1986, 1987, 1988) ** NJPW Japan Cup Tag Team League (1986) with Yoshiaki Fujiwara ** MSG League (1978–1981) ** MSG Tag League (1980) with Bob Backlund ** MSG Tag League (1982) with Hulk Hogan ** MSG Tag League (1983) with Hulk Hogan ** MSG Tag League (1984) with Tatsumi Fujinami ** Six Man Tag Team Cup League (1988) with Riki Choshu & Kantaro Hoshino63 ** World League (1974, 1975) ** Greatest Wrestlers (Class of 2007)64 * NWA Big Time Wrestling ** NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship (1 time) ** NWA World Tag Team Championship (Texas version) (1 time) – with Duke Keomuka * NWA Hollywood Wrestling ** NWA North American Tag Team Championship (Los Angeles/Japan version) (1 time) – with Seiji Sakaguchi ** NWA United National Championship (1 time) * NWA Mid-America ** NWA World Tag Team Championship (Mid-America version) (1 time) – with Hiro Matsuda * Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum ** Class of 20093 * Pro Wrestling Illustrated ** PWI ranked him #5 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003 ** PWI Lifetime Achievement Award65 * Pro Wrestling This Week ** Wrestler of the Week (June 7–13, 1987)66 * Tokyo Sports ** 30th Anniversary Lifetime Achievement Award (1990)67 ** 50th Anniversary Lifetime Achievement Award (2010)68 ** Best Tag Team Award (1975) with Seiji Sakaguchi69 ** Best Tag Team Award (1981) with Tatsumi Fujinami70 ** Distinguished Service Award (1979, 1982)6970 ** Lifetime Achievement Award (1989)70 ** Match of the Year Award (1974) vs. Strong Kobayashi on March 1969 ** Match of the Year Award (1975) vs. Billy Robinson on December 1169 ** Match of the Year Award (1979) with Giant Baba vs. Abdullah the Butcher and Tiger Jeet Singh on August 2669 ** Match of the Year Award (1984) vs. Riki Choshu on August 270 ** MVP Award (1974, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1981)6970 ** Special Grand Prize (1983, 1987)70 ** Technique Award (1985)70 * Universal Wrestling Association ** UWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)71 * World Championship Wrestling ** WCW Hall of Fame (Class of 1995) * World Wide Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment ** WWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time)1 ** WWWF World Martial Arts Heavyweight Championship (2 times) ** WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2010) * Wrestling Observer Newsletter ** Promoter of the Year (2001) ** Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 1996)